Exploring the Conceptual Coherence of Adventure Tourism: A Review of Research Approaches

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/za816768

Keywords:

Adventure Tourism, Conceptual Coherence, Research Approaches, Risk Perception, Tourism Experience, Systematic Review

Abstract

The adventure tourism is one of the rapidly emerging branches of the world tourism sector due to the rising demand of the travel experience that is experiential, nature-based, and activity oriented. Nonetheless, as the concept of adventure tourism gains increasing academic and practical relevance, it remains conceptually gray due to the wide range of interpretations along the disciplinary lines. The current research analyzes the coherence of adventure tourism conceptually by using a systematic review of the available research methods. The study utilises secondary data obtained using peer reviewed academic literature, in synthesis, using the thematic analysis of the key views regarding risk perception, tourist motivation, experiential outcomes, environmental interaction, commercialization and sustainability practices. The results suggest that the research on adventure tourism is still disjointed on psychological, sociological, environmental, and managerial levels, which leads to the lack of consistency in the definition and classification. Nonetheless, conceptual coherence comes out clearly when adventure tourism is interpreted in a multidimensional framework which involves a combination of conceptual, experiential and managerial dimension. The research hypothesizes a holistic model that presents adventure tourism as a holistic tourism system that entails controlled risk experiences in the natural settings with the assistance of institutionalized services. The study seeks to solve the issue of inconsistencies in definitions and provides a single approach to analytical examination in future interdisciplinary studies. The implications of the findings are also practical in the destination managers and policymakers who would want to foster sustainable competitiveness in the development of adventure tourism.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Ajay Kumar, Chandigarh College of Hospitality, CGC Landran Mohali Punjab

    Ajay Kumar, a dynamic academician and tourism enthusiast, basically from Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh. He completed his undergraduate in Tourism Administration from Govt. College Bilaspur and Master's degree from Himachal Pradesh University Summer-Hill, Shimla. He is also pursuing his Ph.D. from CT University Ludhiana under the guidance of Prof. Ashish Raina. Transitioning to academia, Ajay served as an Assistant Professor of Tourism and Travel at Punjab Institute of Management and Technology, Alour, Khanna, and after that at CT Group of Institutions, Shahpur, Jalandhar. Currently he working as an Assistant Professor in the Chandigarh College of Hospitality at CGC Landran, Mohali, Punjab. Ajay Kumar has published 12 research papers, is a book author, has published patents, and has copyrights registered. He has taken part in several FDPs and workshops. He is working as a teacher for the past 7 years.

  • Sanjeev Kumar, Lovely Professional University Punjab India.

    Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Is a Professor in Lovely Professional University Punjab India. He received Undergraduate in Hotel Management from Osmania University, Postgraduate in Tourism Management from Madurai Kamaraj University. He completed Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality Management in 2019 from Amity University Jaipur India. His research areas lies in food Service Industry, his research focuses on Alcoholic beverages, Event management and Sustainable Management Practices, Metaverse, AI Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. He published more than 104 research papers, articles and chapters in Scopus Indexed, UGC Approved and peer reviewed Journals and books. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar participated and acted as resource person in various National and International conferences, seminars, session chair, research workshops and industry talks and his work has been widely cited. Dr. Sanjeev also edited more than 20 books with various International Publishers such as IGI Global, Cambridge Scholars, Emerald, CABI, Bentham Science, Taylor & Francis. Dr Sanjeev is an active researcher and has published numerous research articles in prestigious National and International journals and books. He has been a reviewer of various national and international journals and also delivers guest lectures at academic conferences and faculty development programs.

     

  • Dr. Kuldeep Singh, Amity University Haryana, India

    Dr.  Singh currently serves as Assistant Professor in Amity  School of Hospitality, Amity University, Haryana, India. He completed his Ph.D. in tourism from Maharishi Dayanand University(Rohtak)  in India in the year 2021. His Ph. D. topic was “Service Quality, Tourist Satisfaction, Revisit Intention: An Empirical Study of Selected Tourist Destination in Rajasthan”. He is also a UGC (Net- JRF qualified). Dr. Singh has also served the tourism industry for couple of years before joining the academics. Dr. Singh has so far published more than 30 research articles in both international and national referred journals as well as in edited books in the field of Tourism. He has also edited books in  Emerald , IGI , Bentham and IIP publisher.  He organized many international, national conferences, FDP, workshop , research seminar etc.  Dr. Singh is passionate about academic areas of Service Quality Management, Rural tourism, Ecotourism, and Sustainable tourism. He also won aspiring researchers welcome award from Indian Hospitality Congress. His credential may be verified on various research platforms like Google Scholar, SSRN, LinkedIn, Academia, and Research Gate.

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Published

2026-06-01

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): Economic, Social, and Environmental Tourism in Bali

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Ajay Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Dr. Kuldeep Singh (Author)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Kumar, A., Kumar, S., & Singh, K. (2026). Exploring the Conceptual Coherence of Adventure Tourism: A Review of Research Approaches. Bali Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture Research, 3(2), 292-305. https://doi.org/10.5281/za816768